


Photos of the Future

by rurambles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29248344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rurambles/pseuds/rurambles
Summary: When Shoyou woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, oddly enough his first thought was still that he was going to be late for practice.Sixteen year old Shoyou wakes up in the future, like that wasn't enough of a surprise.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 10
Kudos: 157





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever woken up and just really needed to write something.

When Shoyou woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, oddly enough his first thought was still that he was going to be late for practice.

He gave himself a few seconds to look around, the bed was much larger than his and the room was clean and offered no hints to who the room could belong to besides a pair of glasses on the bedside table. There was a small dresser with a volleyball on top and Shoyou allowed himself to be relieved by the sight.

No matter where he was, they liked volleyball, so they couldn’t be all bad.

He didn’t remember staying over at someone’s house the night before. And this room didn’t look like any of his friends’ rooms. Shoyou closed his eyes and tried to think. He vaguely remembered having dinner with his family and playing with Natsu. He was sure that he had gone to bed in his own bedroom last night.

Was he kidnapped?

He got out of bed and the chill of the morning air hit his bare legs. Panic filled him for just a moment before he looked down at himself and he realized that he usually slept in boxers and a t-shirt and that’s exactly what he was wearing.

There was no sign of his pants in the room though. He thought about rummaging through the dresser for a pair but that would be rude to the person who actually lived here and, he hated to admit it, anything he found most likely wouldn’t fit him.

Shoyou grabbed the volleyball off the top of the dresser as a means to defend himself against potential attackers and slowly opened the bedroom door. Quiet music was coming from another room and he carefully made his way to the sound. The house wasn’t familiar and he didn’t dare open any of the doors in fear of what he might find so he kept going to the main living space.

When the hallway opened up to a bigger room he saw a mop of blond hair laying on a couch with a mug sitting, still lightly steaming, on the table in front of him. The blond man wasn’t moving and Shoyou crept closer.

It was Tsukishima. Sort of. He heard that Tsukishima had an older brother but why would he be at his house?

Tsukishima cracked an eye open, “Shoyou, you slept late,” he mumbled as he grabbed Shoyou’s wrist and pulled him on top of him.

Shoyou squawked and dropped the volleyball. Tsukishima didn’t seem to notice his distress and rolled over so he was laying on top of him and then, for some bizarre reason, started nuzzling his hair. Who was this? Why was this happening?

“Tsukishima,” he pushed at his chest trying to get away, “Stop it.”

“Why are you calling me that?” he yawned.

His grip slackened enough that Shoyou was able to get away. He picked up the volleyball again and backed up a few steps, “You are Tsukishima, right?”

He squinted, “Shoyou?” he said carefully.

“Why do you keep calling me that!” Shoyou yelled.

Tsukishima stood up and rubbed his eyes, “I’m going to get my glasses.”

Shoyou stood frozen on the spot and watched him leave down the hallway. Tsukishima just confirmed that Shoyou had woken up in his bed but that didn’t explain why he did or how he got there. Tsukishima returned a moment later with his glasses and a sweater.

They stared at each other.

“Did you get smaller?” Tsukishima asked incredulously.

At the same time Shoyou blurted out, “I have to go to school.

And then-- “School?” “Don’t call me small!”

Tsukishima pushed his glasses up his forehead and rubbed his eyes, “Shoyou, you haven’t gone to school in years. What’s going on?”

Shoyou took a step back, “Why do you keep calling me Shoyou? You are Tsukishima, right?”

A weird look passed Tsukishima’s face, “What’s going on?” he repeated.

“I don’t know!” he yelled, “You tell me! I woke up in a strange bed in a strange house!”

The weird look came back but this time it didn’t pass right away. It looked almost like grief but that didn’t fit what he knew about Tsukishima. He sighed, “This is going to sound like a stupid question, Shoyou, but what year do you think it is?”

Shoyou crossed his arms, “2013.”

Tsukishima looked away and ran his fingers through his hair, “It’s 2021.”

He scrunched up his face, “Is that why you keep calling me Shoyou? We’re friends in the future?”

“What?” he asked, surprised, “You’re taking being in the future oddly well. And if the 16 year old Shrimp is here, then where’s my-- where’s the 24 year old Shoyou?”

“Wow, I’m 24,” his eyes sparkled, “Are we friends? Do I get to call you Tsukki now? Do we both live here?”

Tsukki turned around so they weren’t looking at each other, “Yeah, we both live here. You call me,” he hesitated and his shoulders tensed, “Tsukki is fine.”

Shoyou tilted his head, he didn’t understand his weird reaction but he rarely understood things when it came to Tsukki, “So did we win Nationals? How did we become friends? Why do we live together? Was that my room? Do I play professionally?”

“Stop,” Tsukki said harshly, “I don’t know what I can answer without, I don’t know, destroying all of time. I’m going to call Hitoka, I’ll show you to your room.”

He was going to comment about how cool it was that he called her Hitoka now but Tsukki started walking away, supposedly to show him to his bedroom (was it not the one he woke up in? He knew where that was?) and he didn’t want to be left behind. Tsuki took out his phone while he walked down the hallway and he pointed towards a closed door that Shoyou had been in.

Maybe when he traveled through space and time he missed a little bit.

Shoyou closed his bedroom door behind him in time to hear Tsukki say “Hitoka” with more emotion than he had ever heard from his teammate. Former teammate? Roommate?

His actual bedroom was weird. There was a bed and a dresser with clothes in it but there were no personal touches in the room. It didn’t look lived in. Maybe he just moved in and didn’t have time to unpack all of his things. Or maybe Tsukki had weird rules about what he could do. Shoyou searched through the dresser and pulled out some pants and a shirt that were still too big but would do for now.

It was nice to know that he would grow in the future.

He heard Tsukki shuffling around the rest of the house and he debated going to see what he was doing, but even if Tsukki said that they were friends now, Shoyou was still apprehensive, so he looked around the barren room. He did manage to find a jersey with Hinata across the back, which answered if he joined a professional team, and another with Tsukishima’s name which proved they were close friends (because the shirt was in his size and not Tsukki’s) and teammates.

Shoyou stayed in his room until he heard Yacchan’s voice.

“Kei?” her voice rang out.

Shoyou stood up straighter. He had called her Hitoka, so it made sense that she called him Kei. He had just never heard anyone call Tsukki by his given name, not even Yamaguchi.

For a second time that day he quietly made his way out of an unfamiliar bedroom and down a short hallway to an unfamiliar living space. Tsukki was making food and whispering something to Yacchan. She was the first person to notice he had joined them.

“Shoyou!” she ran to him and took his hands. Even a few years older than him, she was still smaller, “Wow, Kei wasn’t lying.”

Tsukki snorted from the stove, “I’m glad to know that’s what you think of me,” he said flatly.

She smiled at him, “Oh hush you,” Yacchan turned back to Shoyou and he idly wondered if Tsukki and her were dating, “You’re really sixteen? You look it. But how did you get here? Where’s our Shoyou? Not that you’re not our Shoyou, you’ll become him. How do we get you home? Is it permanent?”

Shoyou laughed, it was nice to know that some things never changed, “I don’t know, Yacchan, I just woke up here.”

Her face fell for a second but she smiled at him quickly.

“Sit down,” Tsukki said, “I made breakfast, I know by now you’re usually on your third meal of the day.”

Shoyou looked down at his stomach as it growled loudly. He didn’t realize he was hungry until Tsukki had mentioned it. He glanced at the table and wondered if there was a specific seat that was his but decided if he sat in the wrong place Tsukki would definitely let him know.

He picked a seat at random and Tsukki put a plate in front of him. But then something weird happened. Tsukki ran his fingers through Shoyou’s hair and tugged lightly to tilt his head back. And then he froze.

“I have to go,” Tsukki said thickly.

He wiped his hands on his pants and fled down the hall to his bedroom.

Shoyou looked at Yacchan, “What just happened?” But she was too busy looking at a photo on the wall to answer.

He didn’t know how he missed the photo earlier. It was of the two of them. They were older than Shoyou but younger than Tsukki was, he guessed because he had the same glasses but his hair was shorter. It looked like they were in a park. Shoyou was sitting in Tsukki’s lap with his legs wrapped around his waist, and Tsukki was running his fingers through his hair in the same intimate gesture as before as they smiled softly at each other.

Oh, Shoyou thought, they’re in love.

“Tsukki and I are dating?”

Yacchan nodded, “I don’t know if you calling him Tsukki is helping or hurting. You’ve-- the older version of you has called him Kei practically forever.”

Shoyou flushed at the thought of calling him Kei, which was stupid because they weren’t friends. He told her as much and she looked sad.

“You become friends after our first Nationals,” she sighed, “But I shouldn’t tell you too much.”

“Why do we have two rooms if we live together?” he asked instead.

Another pained look crossed her face and Shoyou decided the future was kind of terrible, “The two of you aren’t out to a lot of people. Professional sports isn’t always kind to gay athletes. The second room is mostly for show.”

“Tsukki is gay?” he asked stupidly.

Yacchan laughed, “He loves you a lot. It’s nice to see. You told him that--” she cut herself off, “Sorry, I should tell you that.”

“No,” he grabbed her hands, “Tell me, please.”

She looked away, “You said after you won a gold medal you’d ask him to marry you.”

“Hitoka!” They guiltily turned towards Tsukki, “That’s enough!”

Shoyou’s head spun. He didn’t just love Tsukki, he really loved Tsukki. He looked between the man and the photo on the wall. They looked so happy. He could finally understand the grief he saw before, he had lost someone he loved.

“Hinata,” Tsukki said, and Shoyou tried not to flinch at how empty his voice sounded, “You’re welcome to stay here until we figure this out. This is your home,” Tsukki looked away, like he could no longer meet his eye, “But if you’d like I can get you to your parents in Miyagi.”

“No!” he stood up abruptly, “You love me, right? You’ll take care of me.”

It was the wrong thing to say because that broken look passed his face again, “Yeah,” he croaked out, “That’s fine.”

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately.

Yacchan clapped her hands together to break the tension, “We need to figure out why you’re here! There’s usually a reason, right?”

Shoyou gaped at her, “This has happened before?”

“Well,” she rubbed the back of her head, “There has to be a reason.”

He looked up at Tsukki who was still trying not to look at them, “It probably has to do with him,” he said thoughtfully, “Maybe I need to learn how to get along with him.”

“We get along just fine,” he snapped.

“No we don’t!” Shoyou yelled.

Yacchan giggled, “It’s just like high school again.”

Shoyou crossed his arms and looked shyly up at Tsukki, “How did we start getting along during high school?”

Yacchan laughed again, “It’s a great story, we went to a party at Date Tech during our second year and Kei got drunk and confessed to you,” Tsukki tried to stop her from talking but she barreled through, “and you thought he was bullying you so you dared him to go on a date with you.”

He turned to Tsukki who was blushing, he looked cute. Shoyou tried to shake the thought from his head, Tsukishima wasn’t cute, “Then what happened.”

Tsukki sighed, “Apparently we don’t care about the timeline anymore.”

“Maybe this happened to our Shoyou and he never told us. Or forgot about it.”

Shoyou waved a hand in Tsukki’s face, “Then what happened?”

“We went on a date. We yelled at each other a bunch. We,” Tsukki flushed and Shoyou couldn’t help but think that was cute too, “angrily made out. For a few months.”

“Months!” he yelled, “Why?”

Yacchan put a hand on his shoulder, “Because you liked each other and didn’t know how to deal with it. Eventually you guys talked and you’ve been together since then.”

Shoyou counted on his fingers, “Eight years?”

“Almost,” Tsukki mumbled.

Shoyou looked at him. He was pretty. He had filled out since high school and with his wide chest and larger arms he probably gave good hugs. He wondered if Tsukki liked hugs, he didn’t seem like a touchy person but in the picture he was sitting in his lap.

“Are there more pictures?”

Tsukki walked away without saying anything and came back with a photo album, “Hitoka made this for us,” he said quietly.

Shoyou carefully took the book. The cover said “Shoyou and Kei” in a fancy script. As Shoyou looked at the pictures, Tsukki explained what he saw.

Tsukki with his head in Shoyou’s lap in the Karasuno gym and Shoyou looking down at him with overwhelming fondness.

The two of them laying in Tsukki’s bed when they should have been studying, Tsukki was running his fingers through his hair. He said that he didn’t remember what they were talking about but Shoyou didn’t believe him.

Shoyou on Tsukki’s back looking ecstatic while he looked fake-annoyed.

Shoyou sitting in Tsukki’s lap in his bedroom and cupping his face

The two of them kissing gently

A selfie of them with matching undercut haircuts

A selfie of them in front of the door to their first apartment together

Them wearing each other’s jerseys.

“We look happy,” Shoyou said, tracing his fingers over a photo of them smiling at each other. There were just so many of them.

“We are,” Tsukki nodded.

He flipped through the book and glanced at the picture on the wall, “That’s the only photo where we’re outside.”

“I’m surprised you noticed that,” Yacchan said from behind them. Shoyou jumped, he forgot she was there.

Tsukki nodded, “Hitoka already told you that we’re not out,” he looked tired, “Our mothers and siblings know, so do Hitoka and Tadashi. That’s it.”

“Kageyama?”

He snorted, “Has literally seen us makeout, we tried to explain it, but he didn’t understand,” Tsukki pushed his glasses aside to rub his eyes, “He still asks when you’re going to stop living with me. Fuck that guy.”

“He’s just oblivious,” Yacchan said nicely.

“Sho told him he wanted to marry me and his majesty asked why. Sho said we’ve been dating for seven years and he was surprised.”

Shoyou felt oddly embarrassed hearing Tsukki call him Sho. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Why do we want to get married if we’re not out?”

Tsukki looked hurt, “I’m going to bed.”

It was only mid-afternoon.

He didn’t come out of his room for the rest of the day, not even to eat. Hitoka spent the day with him and brought food to Tsukki so he could remain in hiding. She tried to reassure him that everything would be okay but for once he wasn’t feeling optimistic.

Was he supposed to figure something out from this?

He went to bed in a strange room in a strange apartment with strange versions of his teammates close by.

* * *

Sixteen year old Shoyou woke up in his bed at home with the strange memory of a dream. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

* * *

Twenty-four year old Shoyou woke up in his bed at his apartment and shook Kei awake.

“Kei, Kei, get up,” he whispered loudly.

“What do you want,” he groaned.

He forcibly rolled Kei over so he could lay on his chest, “I needed to tell you I love you.”

“I will divorce you for waking me up,” he mumbled as he placed a kiss on his forehead.

Shoyou smiled, “We’re not married.”

“Whatever. Love you too,” he yawned, “Now leave me alone.”

He snuggled down into Kei’s chest, “Never.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended this to be a one-shot but got caught up with what if 24yo Shoyou and 16yo Kei, so have a part two :)

When Shoyou woke up he subconsciously reached for Kei but was met with empty air. He shuffled around trying to find his partner without yet opening eyes. Kei was never up before him and he wanted an early morning cuddle before he got up for the day. After a bit more shuffling, he admitted defeat and opened his eyes.

He understood why he couldn’t find Kei, he wasn’t there. He wouldn’t even fit in this bed well enough to sleep, although Shoyou smiled at the memory of them back in high school stretched out with his legs dangling over the side while they talked about nothing. Shoyou sat up to stretch and paused with arms still in the air.

Why was he here? He was sure that last night he had gone to bed in his own apartment next to Kei.

Warning bells went off in his head as he looked around the room. His room looked like this a few years ago, but since then it had been mostly cleaned out. There were a few things on display that he was sure he took with him to his apartment. What was going on?

He spotted a gym bag by the door to his room and dove for it. His phone was probably in it and he could call Kei and ask him what was going on. Kei was the smartest person he knew and would definitely know how he got here. But the gym bag made him uneasy. He replaced that bag a long time ago. Why was it here?

The contents were unsettling too. A small black Karasuno jersey, number 10. An ancient looking cell phone that didn’t even have Kei’s contact programmed into it. He shoved the jersey back down, he didn’t want to think of the implications and went about creating a new contact. He mentally thanked Kei for making him memorize his number and promised not to call him paranoid again.

Everything in the bag and the room looked like it belonged to a sixteen year old him. But he was definitely in his twenty-four year old body.

He had one last thing to check.

He quietly snuck out of his childhood bedroom and opened the door next to his to Natsu’s room. Inside his baby sister slept soundly. Shoyou covered his mouth to hold back a gasp, because she really did look like a baby and not the teenager he saw the week prior.

Shoyou needed to get out of the house before anyone woke up and he caused a panic. Luckily they were used to him leaving before anyone else was awake. He tiptoed to the front of the house and was met with his next challenge.

While he could go out in the sweatpants and tank top that he woke up in, the only shoes he had here weren’t going to fit him. He spotted a pair of his father’s shoes that he didn’t often wear and hoped that they would fit. They were half a size too big but they would do.

Parked out front of his house was his old bike. He smiled nostalgically at it, he had worn it down some time ago so it was nice to see it and ride it again. He hopped on, then off so he could readjust the seat height, then back on. It was just like he remembered it, so maybe being here wasn’t all bad.

Muscle memory took him in the direction of Karasuno but he didn’t know what he was going to do once he got there. He couldn’t exactly join in on morning practice as he was now. He took a small detour to Kei’s childhood home, maybe he also woke up somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be and didn’t call him because he didn’t want to reach sixteen year old him and have to explain a confusing situation. That sounded right.

Shoyou hovered outside of Kei’s home, unsure of what to do.

He didn’t have to wait too long because soon he exited.

“Kei!” Shoyou jumped out.

He lowered his eyes, “Who are you? A relative of the shrimp?”

Shoyou’s face fell. This wasn’t his Kei. His hair was shorter, his glasses were different, his build too small, the way he looked at him was all wrong.

“No,” he tried, “It’s me, Shoyou. Something weird happened.”

“Mhm,” Kei said dismissively, “I was taught not to talk to strangers. Bye.”

He was definitely Kei, though, at least that much was comforting. Shoyou followed after him, “What do I have to do to convince you that I’m really me?”

Shoyou couldn’t see Kei roll his eyes, but he knew that he did, “There’s nothing. I saw Hinata yesterday and he didn’t look like you. If this is some weird prank, it’s not working.”

He let out an annoyed sound, he forgot how frustrating Kei was before he confessed. But maybe he could use that to his advantage, “This is me but I’m twenty-four, I think I time traveled overnight and you’re the smartest person I know in the future so I thought you could help me--”

“No.”

“And I can prove it because I know everything about you.”

Kei stopped walking, “No you don’t.”

Shoyou nodded eagerly, “Yes, I do! Ask me something.”

“No,” he started walking again, “Are you stalking me?”

“You’re so frustrating!” Shoyou yelled, “Tsukishima Kei, your birthday is September 27th, your favorite food is strawberry shortcake but you don’t like people knowing that you like sweets. You like strawberries a lot but not artificial strawberry flavored things. Your older brother is Akiteru, you had a falling out because he lied to you about how well he was doing in volleyball. You really like dinosaurs, under your bed is a really cute and colorful children’s book about dinosaurs that you don’t want to get rid of.”

Kei stared at him, “You are stalking me.”

Shoyou licked his lips, “Fine, I know things that I couldn’t learn from following you around or asking Tadashi.” Kei waited and Shoyou took that as permission to go on. He took a deep breath but continued in a gentler manner, “You’re closed off because you think it’ll keep you safe but you’re actually really lonely. And no one knows that you’re gay.”

He saw Kei’s carefully built mask slip for a second, “Now I know this is a prank.”

“When you come out to your family,” Shoyou continued softly, “Your mom is going to tell you that she already knows but she’s so happy you’re comfortable telling her. Aki is going to cry and say,” Shoyou rubbed his nose, “that he’s happy you found someone who loves you.”

“Stop,” Kei said quietly.

“Yeah,” he chuckled nervously, “I probably shouldn’t have told you that. But I thought that it would help you. W-You don’t tell a lot of people, but they’re all on your side.”

Kei studied him with an analytical gaze that Shoyou was very familiar with, and he knew that he said too much, “It’s you, then?” Kei asked, “Are you the someone who loves me?”

He laughed nervously again, “I don’t know if I should say. But you’re way too smart.,” Kei’s gaze shifted to something different, “Please don’t look at me like that, it’s weird.”

“What?”

Shoyou rubbed the back of his neck, “I’ve been with… you? My Kei for a while, I know when you’re checking me out.”

Kei turned red and Shoyou had forgotten how easy it was to make him blush when they first got together. It was cute. “I was not,” he grumbled.

“It’s okay,” Shoyou said, looking at the sky, “You’ll call me out for inappropriately checking you out in the future too.”

“This is not happening,” Kei said to himself, “I need to go to practice.”

“I’ll just,” he looked around, “Stay around here I guess.”

Kei made his ‘I hate that I’m going to do this’ face, “You can stay in my house, no one will be home until late. Just don’t be weird.”

* * *

“Tell me about the future,” Kei demanded when he got home later that afternoon, “I let you stay in my house, so it’s the least you could do.”

Shoyou covered his face with his hands, “I don’t know if I should. What if I ruin everything?”

Kei glared at him, “You said I’m the smartest person you know, and I’m telling you to do this.”

Damn him.

“You’re amazing in the future,” Shoyou smiled fondly, “you go to college and play on a division 2 team while still studying. Then you get the job you wanted and move up to division 1. It gets really tough but you have some nice connections and they offer to hold your job until you’re done playing volleyball. People are really impressed by you.”

Kei took a moment to digest that, “You sound upset.”

Shoyou sighed, “You notice too much. I miss my Kei, it was weird waking up without him. We have an apartment together but there are two bedrooms so people don’t think we’re dating. When we get interviewed we’re asked about girlfriends a lot. It hurts you sometimes.”

“It doesn’t hurt you?” he asked.

“That’s such a Kei question,” Shoyou laughed. Kei made a small gesture with his arms to say, that’s who I am, “You’re a lot different in the future. You’d kill me if I called you sensitive, but I think you’re... he’s a bit insecure because I’m bisexual and wouldn’t have to hide. But I really love him and choose to live how we do, so it doesn’t bother me.”

Kei didn’t say anything.

“So do you have a crush on me yet? I mean, sixteen year old me?” He asked to break the tension.

Kei made a disgusted face, “No.”

He laughed, “You forget I know everything about you. I know when your crush starts, although it’s possible you haven’t realized it yet. Yeah, that thing hasn’t happened yet.”

“What thing?” he asked curiously.

“Live it and enjoy it,” Shoyou said instead of answering.

Kei walked across his room and picked a book off his shelf, “Do you think there’s something you have to do in order to go home?”

Shoyou shrugged, “All I wanted to do was talk to you.”

“Well, you did,” he said, leafing through the book, “Maybe you’ll wake up in your own time.”

* * *

Sixteen year old Kei woke up with a strange yearning in his chest.

“Hey, Shrimp,” he called out later during practice, “Run blocking drills with me.”

* * *

Twenty-four year old Kei rolled over in search of Shoyou but found the bed empty. He sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes.

“Sorry,” Shoyou whispered from the door, “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m getting ready to go for a run.”

“Missed you,” Kei mumbled, holding his arms out silently asking him to come back.

Shoyou laughed silently, “I didn’t go anywhere,” he climbed back into bed, he could delay his run for a few minutes.

Kei sighed when Shoyou laid on top of him, “Still missed you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Why did this happen? Who knows! Did they learn anything? Who knows! 
> 
> ~~I did not know how to end this, oops~~


End file.
